top of page
Search

Research: Polish customer traffic convenient stores beats discounters

In the second quarter of this year, year-on-year traffic increased in

  • convenience stores: by 6.6 %

  • hypermarkets: by 5.5 %

  • discount stores: by 2.7 %

  • supermarkets: by 0.6 %

according to a report by Proxi.cloud and the Blix Group. In the first two segments, the number of so-called unique customers also increased.


The effect of the recovery in consumption

"This is the result of the recovery in consumption with stabilizing inflation and improved consumer sentiment. The largest increase in the convenience segment is not surprising, because this format responds to the need for quick, frequent shopping, often at the last minute, close to home, especially during holiday and travel periods, e.g. during the May or June long weekend," said Marcin Lenkiewicz from the Blix Group.


The success of convenience chains is influenced by the increase in the number of outlets belonging to them

The Proxi.cloud expert, in turn, noted that the success of convenience chains is also influenced by the increase in the number of outlets belonging to them. The so-called newsletter applications are also gaining popularity, thanks to which more and more customers take advantage of available promotions, thus increasing traffic in stores.

"Our other research shows that more and more people combine shopping in several formats even on one day. For example, basic products are purchased primarily in discount stores, and complementary products, in convenience stores. It is this segment, thanks to its availability and flexibility, that most often plays the role of second-choice facilities, which largely explains the highest increase in the number of visits in the analysed period", added Weronika Piekarska from Proxi.cloud.


In the opinion of the authors of the report, the growth in hypermarkets was supported by higher Christmas shopping and weekend barbecues, but the long-term trend is conducive to smaller, more accessible convenience stores.


The loss of discounters is due to market saturation

"The loss of discounters is due to market saturation and growing competition from local formats. The convenience channel wins primarily in terms of availability, while discount stores and supermarkets continue to dominate as a place for larger, planned purchases, especially groceries and household chemicals. The order of the segments in the ranking also reflects a change in behavior. Consumers buy less at a time, but more often", said Lenkiewicz.


In the second quarter, the share of individual store formats in the total number of visits changed slightly.

  1. Convenience chains: 43.3% (Q2 2024: 42.3 %)

  2. Discount stores: 31.5 % (Q2 2024: 31.9 %)

  3. Supermarkets: 19.3 % (Q2 2024: 20 %)

  4. Hypermarkets: 5.9 % (Q2 2024: 5.8 %)


Shopping frequency increased year-on-year across all formats. In the convenience channel, the number of visits per customer increased from 9.6 to 10.1, in discount stores from 7.3 to 7.6, in supermarkets from 5.4 to 5.5, and in hypermarkets from 3 to 3.2.


The average monthly total time spent shopping by the average customer increased year-on-year only in convenience stores from 40 to 44 minutes. It has not changed in hypermarkets - 1 hour and 2 minutes. Decreases were recorded in discount stores from 44 to 41 minutes and in supermarkets from one hour and 1 minute to 58 minutes.


The analysis was carried out by the technology company Proxi.cloud and the Blix Group in cooperation with the analytical and research platform UCE Research. It covered the behaviour of consumers visiting discount grocery stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience chains (a total of 25 retail chains). The sample size was nearly 1.4 million consumers. In total, over 40,600 stores were observed.



ree

Comments

bottom of page